Through this flyer, the right-wing Liberty Counsel (home of arch-homophobe Matt Barber) is channeling the "homosexuality is more dangerous than smoking" lie:
The Liberty Counsel is the latest religious right group to push that lie and it has been a mistake of the gay community to not challenge it aggressively.
Not to refute this lie, mind you, because the notion is ridiculous.
Rather, all the gay community has to do is reveal where this "homosexuality is more dangerous than smoking" lie came from. And then watch members of the religious right stumble over each other in an effort to retreat from the charge.
It was a 2007 study published by discredited researcher Paul Cameron.
It was Cameron who in the 80s came up with the idea of aggressively using science to prove that homosexuality is a “dangerous lifestyle.” The problem is to do this, Cameron attained a reputation for either distorting legitimate science or distorting his own work to gain the conclusions he wanted from his “studies.” He has also been discredited and censured by many group and individuals on the left, the right, and in the middle due to his bad research techniques. Several of his studies have been criticized for such errors as having small sample sizes, showing an anti-gay bias in interviews, and not having enough responses to establish a suitable analysis.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, who has designated Cameron's group The Family Research Institute as a hate group because of his history of deliberately putting out fraudulent information on the gay community, Cameron created his study via the following specious means:
Every time the gay community allows this lie to be repeated without saying where it comes from is a missed opportunity to connect the religious right groups to their tendency to rely on junk science in order smear us.
As for the Liberty Counsel, it's rather brazen for the organization to talk about Jesus and God's love while at the same time breaking one of the Ten Commandments by "bearing false witness" against the gay community.
There is an old saying in the African-American community that's very appropriate here.
When members of the Liberty Counsel die, they are going to bust Hell wide open.
iThe Liberty Counsel is the latest religious right group to push that lie and it has been a mistake of the gay community to not challenge it aggressively.
Not to refute this lie, mind you, because the notion is ridiculous.
Rather, all the gay community has to do is reveal where this "homosexuality is more dangerous than smoking" lie came from. And then watch members of the religious right stumble over each other in an effort to retreat from the charge.
It was a 2007 study published by discredited researcher Paul Cameron.
It was Cameron who in the 80s came up with the idea of aggressively using science to prove that homosexuality is a “dangerous lifestyle.” The problem is to do this, Cameron attained a reputation for either distorting legitimate science or distorting his own work to gain the conclusions he wanted from his “studies.” He has also been discredited and censured by many group and individuals on the left, the right, and in the middle due to his bad research techniques. Several of his studies have been criticized for such errors as having small sample sizes, showing an anti-gay bias in interviews, and not having enough responses to establish a suitable analysis.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, who has designated Cameron's group The Family Research Institute as a hate group because of his history of deliberately putting out fraudulent information on the gay community, Cameron created his study via the following specious means:
First, Cameron presents it as a given that the average gay life span is 43 years, citing his own 1995 study as evidence. Then he compares 43 years to the average life span of smokers to conclude that having gay sex is far more dangerous that cigarettes.
Every time the gay community allows this lie to be repeated without saying where it comes from is a missed opportunity to connect the religious right groups to their tendency to rely on junk science in order smear us.
As for the Liberty Counsel, it's rather brazen for the organization to talk about Jesus and God's love while at the same time breaking one of the Ten Commandments by "bearing false witness" against the gay community.
There is an old saying in the African-American community that's very appropriate here.
When members of the Liberty Counsel die, they are going to bust Hell wide open.
The real danger for gay people is the way that they are treated, not how they treat themselves or each other. Improve that and life expectancy will fall in line with the average.
ReplyDeleteRight now it's like taking a child, smacking him as hard as you can on top of his head repeatedly every day for twenty years, and then blaming him for being short.
Liberty Counsel: We believe this hunger [for a physical relationship] can and will only be satisfied in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteSo, in their eyes, our only option is to become saints.
And apparently, if you’re an atheist, you can go straight to non-existent hell.